Hugh Grant baby claims strongly denied by Daily Mail

The Daily Mail has issued a statement vehemently denying accusations from Hugh Grant.

The 51-year-old actor told the Leveson Inquiry today (November 21) that he suspected the newspaper had discovered information about his baby daughter with girlfriend Tinglan Hong from a hospital insider.

However, a newspaper spokesman said: "The Daily Mail unequivocally denies Hugh Grant's allegation that it secured information about the birth of his child from a source at the hospital.

"In fact the information came from a source in his showbusiness circle more than two weeks after the birth. We then spent a further two weeks seeking a response to the story from his publicists.

"None was forthcoming and indeed we did not publish anything until Grant's publicist issued a statement describing the baby as the product of a 'fleeting affair'. Throughout the Mail behaved with total journalistic propriety."

Grant alleged earlier: "They didn't want to print the story based solely on their hospital source because that might have been unethical or possibly illegal.

"So they needed a comment from my side and that is why I said nothing. Unless my cousin rang up the Daily Mail and told them, or [Hong's] Chinese parents who speak no English did that, it's very hard to draw any other conclusion."